City officials detailed plans to be part of a one-stop, online portal where businesses in Bellevue, Seattle, Tacoma and Everett can obtain business licenses and pay their business and occupations taxes. Also at Monday's City Council meeting, the official name for the portal was unveiled: FileLocal.org.

FileLocal will allow users to apply for and renew city business licenses and pay local B&O taxes at one convenient place -- www.filelocal.org -- even if a business operates across multiple participating cities. It's expected to save businesses time and money, reduce administrative costs for cities and improve access to information. And, for the first time in Bellevue, businesses will be able to pay their B&O tax with a credit card.

To operate FileLocal, Bellevue plans to be part of an interlocal agreement among the four cities. The portal agency will be governed jointly by Bellevue, Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, but each city will maintain control over its tax rates and policies.

The four cities have been collaborating on the project for nearly three years while seeking input from local businesses and other stakeholders on the portal's design and function. In Bellevue, the city's tax division has created a short online survey to solicit feedback about tax simplification.

Bellevue's share of the portal agency's operating cost is estimated at less than $40,000 in 2014. Councilmembers are expected to approve the interlocal agreement at their Dec. 2 meeting. FileLocal.org is scheduled to go live in the fall of 2014.